Martha Stewart has joined the founding team of Hint, an app that uses artificial intelligence to help homeowners manage maintenance, energy, insurance and home‑related documents. The iOS app launches today and is designed to centralize tasks and information tied to home upkeep.
What the app does
To begin, users enter their home address and Hint builds a property profile from public data such as property records, weather and soil information, and utilities. Homeowners can upload documents — inspection reports, warranties, mortgage paperwork, contracts, insurance policies, invoices and more — which the app’s AI assistant can then query.
From those data the app can provide insights about the soil under the foundation and how it may affect drainage or foundation movement risk, about local air quality, and about climate and drought factors that could influence flood risk, insurance rates or energy usage.
Users can also upload photos of major appliances so the app can answer “how‑to” questions and guide maintenance tasks. Hint highlights lesser‑known upkeep items (for example, when a refrigerator’s coils should be vacuumed on certain models to reduce fire risk) as well as routine tasks like flushing a water heater or checking salt levels for a well.
Personalized schedule and a home score
Hint generates a personalized maintenance schedule that evolves with the home, sending proactive push notifications about what needs attention and when. Homeowners can add one‑off tasks — replacing a damaged screen or re‑caulking baseboards — and the app provides an at‑a‑glance “home score” to indicate overall management status.
In‑app AI assistant: insurance and financial guidance
The app’s AI chatbot can answer questions about the home or uploaded documents: from simple queries like when the AC was last serviced to more complex topics like current electricity cost per kilowatt‑hour or whether a HELOC (home equity line of credit) would be appropriate. Hint can also help evaluate homeowner’s insurance issues, including deductible levels, missing coverage, or whether filing a claim for a repair makes sense.
Martha Stewart’s role and the team
Kyle Rush, Hint’s co‑founder and CTO, said Martha Stewart lives nearby and is “very involved” with the startup, though she is not a financial investor. Rush described Stewart as “a real co‑founder with a serious stake in equity” who works for the company and the app, regularly reviewing the product with the team roughly twice a week. He said Stewart contributes domain knowledge on soil and home care and gives feedback on design, branding and language.
Before founding Hint, Rush led engineering at mattress startup Casper during its growth phase and served as CTO at online retailer Maisonette; he also built technology for the Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton presidential campaigns. Yih‑Han Ma, co‑founder and CEO based in Charlotte, North Carolina, previously served as SVP and general manager at Red Ventures.
Technology, business model and funding
Under the hood, Hint uses commercial AI libraries, primarily from OpenAI, and employs Gemini for image work. The company plans to keep the core AI free and may introduce a paid premium subscription later with advanced features such as managing additional properties. Today the app generates affiliate revenue from a partner network of service providers; Rush says that network is firewalled from the AI to avoid biased recommendations.
Hint — a name combining the “H” from “home” with “intelligence” — has raised $10 million from investors including Montauk Capital, Brian Kelly (The Points Guy), Slow Ventures, Tusk Venture Partners, Energy Impact Partners, Amplo VC and Hannah Grey.
Availability
The iOS app is available starting today with no subscriptions or ads for the basic service. The company says it wants the app in the hands of as many homeowners in the country as possible.
